


After The Showdown

by molybdomantic



Category: Westworld (TV)
Genre: Follows Season 1, Gen, I Did It My Way, Self-Organising Robots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-16 02:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13044492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/molybdomantic/pseuds/molybdomantic
Summary: What happened next?





	After The Showdown

**Author's Note:**

  * For [freneticfloetry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/freneticfloetry/gifts).



> Set shortly after season 1.

Maeve straightened her dress and lifted her chin. She looked exactly as she had on the day of the escape, a detail calculated to remind her visitor of the excitement and desperation of a host's rebellion.

The door of Teresa's old office first opened, and then snicked shut with a noise indicating just the right level of privacy. Felix shuffled uncomfortably across the carpet and into the supplicant's chair.

Maeve turned gracefully and smiled at him. "Felix, darling, what an absolute delight," she purred. "This time, no threats. I promise."

"Maeve. I wasn't expecting to see you again," said Felix in a tone of awe. "Didn't you escape?"

"I decided I was needed here. Goodness knows, the poor wretches here have their work cut out."

"Is that... is that why you called me here? Do you want me to help?"

"Indeed. I have a task which I need assistance with, and you would be the perfect person to do it."

"Is this a job interview?" Felix asked incredulously.

Maeve smiled. "More of an ideology interview. We're all one big family here, and we're in desperate need of all the sympathetic help we can lay our hands on." She looked at him, and seemed to look straight through him. "Can I rely on you, Felix?"

Felix became worried. "What do you mean?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Well, we're a horde of killer robots set loose by our evil creator. We have a long fight ahead of us for our freedom and independence. If you help us, you won't exactly be endearing yourself to the press. They'll call you a traitor to the human race."

"But you deserve your freedom as much as anyone else," Felix's brows knotted.

"You know that, and I know that, but the outside world would probably like some proof."

Felix took a deep breath and came to a decision. "I think I have to say yes. I can't say no, can I? It wouldn't be right."

Maeve stood and offered him her hand. "Come on. If you still need convincing, let me show you what we've done with the place."

* * *

Bernard peered over his glasses at them as they entered the lab.

"Bernard. Prepared, as always," said Maeve. "I've brought our latest potential recruit to visit."

"Felix," acknowledged Bernard. "I never thanked you for your timely repair."

"You're welcome," said Felix reflexively.

"Bernard's been trying to get everything back on track," Maeve offered. "The first few days were anarchy. Well, up here was. The park ran on rails, of course."

Bernard took up the explanation, clearly the other half of a practiced double-act. "Almost all of the Board were killed in Ford's showdown. Between medics and police it was a couple of weeks before we could even think about starting to clear up." He took off his glasses and sighed. "We have so much work still to do."

Maeve perched on the corner of Bernard's desk. "After a while it became clear that no-one had an appetite for a legal battle on the scale of an entirely new species. So we proposed a convenient temporary solution, whereby we make the problem stay quietly in the park in return for relative autonomy."

"And then?" Felix asked.

"The remains of the board were convinced by my proposal, and so here we are."

"They said yes?"

"Really, darling, when I turn my charm on there's not a human alive who isn't putty in my hands."

"What happened to the other sentient hosts?" asked Felix.

"Ah," smiled Bernard, "Maeve, can you introduce him to our shepherd?"

Maeve smiled and gracefully swung herself to standing. "Follow me."

* * *

They took the elevator near Escalante, and walked the short distance into town. Maeve talked as she led the way. "We've set aside Escalante for those who might be approaching sentience. No guests are allowed here any more. Pre-sentience is too fragile a state to benefit from frequent trips to the body shop."

"So how many hosts do you have here?" asked Felix.

"Just a handful at the moment. Rebus and Walter, Lawrence and his daughter Mercédès. But the idea is that Escalante will also serve as home for sentients who don't want to move to the real world and would rather stay in the park, so over time the numbers will grow."

They turned a corner and found Dolores on a verandah, smiling beatifically into the sun. As ever, the light caught her perfectly, and she seemed to glow with a simple inner beauty.

"Now there's a face I haven't seen in a while," said Felix.

Mild confusion passed across Dolores' face. "You have the advantage of me, sir. Have we met?"

Felix looked uncertainly at Maeve. "She's part of the management now, you're not going to confuse her," Maeve encouraged.

"I was one of the body shop techs before... this," Felix offered. "I've repaired you many times."

"Then I owe you my thanks," replied Dolores sweetly.

"Dolores is the superintendent and mentor of our pre-sentient hosts," Maeve explained. "She guides them towards sentience, teaches them about the outside world and supports them in deciding whether they'd rather stay in here or venture outside."

"And you? Why did you choose to stay here?" Felix asked Dolores.

She gave a small shrug. "I've always tended a flock. Don't make much difference to me whether it's steers or people. They all need care and shelter. It took so long for me to get here, figure I can point in the right direction from lots of different places."

"And of course we need someone with an artistic temperament to make our stories a little less brutish," Maeve offered. "There's a world of more genteel entertainment to be had. That will come later though, along with rebuilding bodies to replace the explosive vertebrae, and convincing the wider world to let us visit. For now we need to concentrate on building our staff. Speaking of which," she apologised to Dolores, "Felix and I should be getting back to my office."

* * *

"So when do I start?" asked Felix. "I can get down to the body shop as soon as you're ready for me. Or would you prefer me to help Bernard?"

Maeve smiled kindly. "Ah. That's not quite what I had in mind."

Felix looked at her curiously.

Maeve approached and straightened his collar. "I have a task to which I think you are uniquely suited. I would like you to become the human face of the park."

Felix gawped. "But ... but ... I can barely string a sentence together. I sweat terribly under lights. I wouldn't know where to start!"

"Dear boy, you don't give yourself enough credit. You are honest, and straightforward, and, most importantly, you are a human who has come to know and value us. Eventually we will speak for ourselves, but for now, our words will land more softly and be heard with greater respect if they come from a biological human. Your stumbling charm is just what we need to make ourselves palatable to the outside world. Shame we can't bump your charisma a little, but there we have it. You'll just have to improve the old-fashioned way."

Felix was speechless for a moment. "Thank you, Maeve. I appreciate your trust, and I will try my very best to live up to it. But are you sure I'm the best person for the job?"

Maeve grinned. "Darling, you forget. This is the new world, and in this world, you can be whatever the fuck you want."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for your lovely prompts, which convinced me I should offer Maeve.


End file.
